MOSCOW, December 2 (RAPSI) – Ivan Sukharev and Anton Ishchenko, lawmakers from the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR), have proposed life sentences for personnel of prisons and pretrial detention wards who torture inmates, Izvestia newspaper reports on Tuesday.

The bill they have drafted would toughen penalties for abuse of office involving torture, which would be qualified as a serious crime punishable by long sentences, including life imprisonment.

The MPs believe this measure would stop law enforcement officers from using violence and rule out cases where offenders go unpunished or receive a suspended sentence.

Ivan Sukharev, member of the State Duma Committee on Civil, Criminal, Commercial and Procedural Legislation, said suspended sentences or community work make up over 80 percent of the verdicts in these cases. He believes that a tougher penalty would encourage judges to abandon the principle of corporate consensus and to adopt commensurate verdicts.

Lawmaker Anton Ishchenko said the Criminal Code stipulates prison time for this crime but in reality such sentences are handed down only rarely. He said law enforcement officers must know that covering up their colleagues’ misdeeds will result in a prison sentence.

According to Izvestia, Pavel Krasheninnikov, chair of the State Duma Committee on Civil, Criminal, Commercial and Procedural Legislation, has approved the MPs’ initiative. He said a key priority is to promote transparency in the operation of law enforcement agencies.